Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1495870
2 NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 29 MARCH 2023 2 KURT SANSONE HUNTERS have proposed a trap- ping season for turtle doves this spring to widen the gene pool of the breed and release programme they operate, MaltaToday has learnt. Hunting organisation FKNK in- cluded the unprecedented sugges- tion in its proposals for the open- ing of a limited spring hunting season it presented to the Ornis Committee, a government adviso- ry body. The Ornis Committee is ex- pected to meet on Wednesday to decide whether to allow a spring hunting season next month. Spring trapping of turtle doves has never been a consideration so far. The FKNK said in a statement on Tuesday morning that it is pro- posing the application of a der- ogation to allow spring hunting for turtle doves and quails, and "live-capturing of turtle doves for research purposes". Trapped turtle doves to be handed over to FKNK's breeding programme The statement did not give de- tails of the new trapping proposal but sources close to government told MaltaToday the FKNK sug- gestion includes several condi- tions, including the use of nets with large mesh sizes to avoid the capture of other birds. Another condition is that trap- pers who opt for the special trap- ping licence will not be able to hunt and shotguns will not be permitted inside the trapping site, including the hide. "The FKNK wants to enhance the genetic pool of the turtle dove stock used in its breeding pro- gramme and any trapped birds will have to be handed over to the organisation," the sources said. Some of the captured birds will be tagged with GPS trackers and released into the wild after the clo- sure of the hunting season. Bag limits, spring hunt season unchanged The FKNK is proposing that the national bag limits for turtle doves and quail remain unchanged from last year – hunters will be able to kill 1,500 turtle doves and 2,400 quails. Any turtle doves captured alive as a result of the trapping propos- al will be deducted from the na- tional quota. Once bag limits are reached the season is shut. The trapping season for turtle doves will run between 17 April and 30 April from two hours be- fore sunrise until noon, the same as that for hunting. The hunting season for quails will start on 10 April and end on 30 April. The FKNK has been running a breeding programme for turtle doves since 2017 and has released more than 2,800 birds into the wild. "A study presented by the organ- isation shows that between 2017 and 2022, according to official records, 2,134 turtle doves were shot, which means the FKNK re- leased more birds back into the wild than were killed," the sources said. GPS trackers attached to some of the birds have shown that most turtle doves released in Malta travelled north to Italy but a hand- ful made it to Bulgaria and Koso- vo. The latter two countries are not used for reference purposes when setting the national hunting quota for turtle doves. Spring hunting is not allowed under EU law but Malta has been applying a derogation for a limit- ed hunting season for turtle doves and quails with national quotas on the number of birds that can be killed. The derogation was made possi- ble after a 2009 European Court of Justice ruling that said the autumn season was not a satisfactory alter- native, allowing a limited spring hunting season. Bird conservation organisation BirdLife and other environmental groups had unsuccessfully tried to strike down the spring hunting derogation in a referendum held in 2015. However, since then the turtle dove was declared a vulnerable species and last month the Euro- pean Commission sent a letter of formal notice to the government after it opened a spring hunting season in 2022. The letter is the first in a three-stage infringement warning process that can eventu- ally lead to proceedings against Malta at the ECJ. A moratorium on the hunting of turtle dove in spring had been introduced in 2017 and was lifted last year. FKNK proposes unprecedented spring trapping season for turtle doves The FKNK wants to enhance the genetic pool of its breeding programme by capturing turtle doves from the wild. Captive-bred turtle doves are then released into the wild MATTHEW AGIUS A 17-year-old British youth has been slapped with a €3,000 fine after he admitted to having as- saulted two police officers in Swieqi. The accused, who the court was told has no fixed residence in Malta, had been arrested at around 6:45am yesterday morn- ing. Inspector Zachary Zammit, prosecuting, told the court how police officers had been dis- patched to Tal-Ibraġġ at the time, to deal with a reported distur- bance there. Upon their arrival at the scene, the officers had found two visibly distressed women standing next to a car with the defendant inside, shouting at them to "get him out of the car". After being extracted from the vehicle, the defendant had tried to escape from the police on foot, leading to him being chased by the officers. He was found, short- ly afterwards, hiding inside a quarry. But when two police officers had approached his hiding place, the defendant charged at them and tackled them to the ground, slightly injuring them. He was eventually cornered and taken into custody. He was arraigned before Mag- istrate Caroline Farrugia Frendo on Tuesday, accused of slightly injuring the police, resisting ar- rest and with uttering insults and threats during his arrest. The accused pleaded guilty to the charges. The defendant's father ad- dressed the court this morning, telling the magistrate that his son had been under the influence of alcohol and drugs at the time of the incident. In sentencing the youth, the magistrate observed that the de- fendant is a minor and had sub- sequently cooperated with the authorities. He was fined €3000, which the court ordered to be paid within a year. Lawyer Martin Fenech rep- resented the youth as legal aid counsel. British teen handed €3,000 fine after assaulting police officers 17-year-old British teen pleads guilty to injuring police as father tells court he had been under the inf luence of alcohol and drugs